Very similar to P. abies, arguably synonymous or perhaps better described as a variety. An intermediate form in NE Russia, P. × fennica, represents an introgressive hybrid between the two species (Farjon 1990). This introgression is detailed by Krutovskii and Bergmann (1995), who analyzed isozyme loci for populations sampled from across the range of the two species. They found so little variation between the two taxa, and such a large zone of introgressive hybridization (covering both sides of the Ural Mountains) as to warrant describing them as "two geographical races of one spruce species."

Description

Distribution and Ecology

N Europe to Kamchatka. Var. fennica in S Sweden, S Norway to Leningrad (Silba 1986). Alternatively, the species is continuous with P. abies, the division (and zone of introgression) occurring in the Ural Mountains, with P. obovata extending E from the Urals to the Sea of Okhotsk (Farjon 1990). Hardy to Zone 1 (cold hardiness limit below -45.6°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001, variety not specified), which makes it one of the most cold-hardy trees known.